Private equity outfit General Atlantic Partners is to take a $125 million minority stake in electronic communications network Archipelago.
Consortium-owned Archipelago says it will use the proceeds to advance its plans to develop its own listings business and market data products.
The Archipelago Exchange bills itself as "the first totally open, fully electronic stock market to trade in all New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and American Stock Exchange securities".
Welcoming the investment, Jerry Putnam, chief executive officer of Archipelago, states: "We have seen continuous growth in market share following the roll out of all OTC stocks on the Archipelago Exchange last April, and we are focusing our efforts on making our marketplace even more competitive."
General Atlantic Partners joins other Archipelago stakeholders, including, among others, E*Trade, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, American Century Companies, and Instinet.